Improvement in musical instruments



A.SCHOENHUT{ MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Patented Oct. 31,1876.

Ulllllllllllllllrlrlllllllllllllllllllllllll*i UNITED STATES PATENT (.)ErcniQV ALBERT SCHOENHUT, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 183,977, dated October 31, 1876; application Iiled September 26, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT SGHOENHUT, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented an Improved Musical Instrument and mode ot' playing thereon, of which the following is a specitication:

My invention relates to that class of musical instruments composed of strips otl glass, metal, or other resonant substances, which are usually sounded by impact; and my invention consists, first, in sounding such strips by friction on their ends; and, secondly, in constructing the instrument' in the peculiar mode describedhereafter, with the View of adapting it to the new mode of playing.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a perspective view of the instrument, and Fig. 2 a transverse section of the same.

Ais a sounding-box, made wider at one end than the other, and open at the top. B B are lthe strips, which I prefer to make of iron or steel, in the manner described in the Letters Patent No. 144,148, granted to me October 28, 1873. I attach these strips to the upper edges of the box, in the following manner: I secure a bed, a, of soft material, such as Berlin wool, or other tlocculent yarn or soft yielding material, to the said edges, and then, placing the sounding-strips B in proper .order on this bed, I drive two pins, e e, through holes in each strip, and through the bed a into the edges of the box, having rst wrapped the pins with yarn, or so covered them with any other absorbent of sound that there can be no direct metallic contact ot' the strips with the pins. Between the heads ofthe pins and the upper surfaces ot' the strips intervenes the upper yarn H H, so that there may be no metallic contact between the said heads and the strips, which are, in fact, entirely isolated from both box and pins by soft cushions, whichdo not detract from the tones emitted from the said strips when friction is imparted to the ends by an ordinary bow, F, of a violin.

The hairs ot' the bow may be rubbed either downward or upward against the ends ot' the strips, the upper cushion preventing displacemeut ot' the strips or their contact with the heads ofthe pins during the upward movement ot' the bow.

In order that the hairs of the bow may be retained within proper limits when they are rubbed against the ends of the strips, I make the latter concave, as shown, so that they shall have a tendency to concentrate the hairs and insure their full frictional eft'ect.

In playing on the instrument the bow should be applied to the concave ends of the strips with an abrupt stroke, somewhat like that adopted in playing on a bass-fiddle, so that the tones emitted may be clear and long-continued' like those of an Eolian harp.

In place of -the violinbow, a piece of wellrosined rawhide or leather, stretched to a suitable frame,1nay be used for imparting friction to the strips.

I claim as my inventionl. A musical instrument in which a series of graduated resonant strips are combined with a sounding-box, substantially in the manner described, so as to permit the use ot' a bow or its equivalent in playing on the said instrument, as specified.

2. rIhe combination of the sounding-strips with cushions above and below the same, and with cushioned pins for coniining the strips.

3. The strips B, each having a concave end, as set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence ot' two sub' scribing witnesses.

ALBERT scHoENEUT.

Witnesses:

HENRY HoWsoN, Jr., HARRY SMITH. 

